Gold Flag
by The.Dragon.Singer
Summary: Sam has known little about her family, but her grandfather remembers his 'crazy great-grandpa Edward.' While at her grandparents for the summer, Sam discovers she can use alchemy.


_'My name is Edward Elric.'_

"Samantha, pay attention." The teacher snaps my focus from the rain pounding against the window. Lightning flashes, and a smile twitches against my ruby painted mouth as my classmates jump.

"Thank you." The teacher sighs. He's a substitute, brought in because our actual history teacher is having a baby, and the new one hasn't been hired yet.

My eyes go back to the rain outside, and lightning flashes again.

There's something about lightning that has always attracted me. Maybe it's because it rarely happens here, or one of my past lives liked it.

I don't believe in past lives, but my grandmother does. She a kind lady, a bit of her rocker, but knows what's she's talking about.

"Samantha!" The teacher calls again, and this time I pivot my body to face him, plastering a sweet smile on my face.

"Yes, ?" I ask. He blinks several times and then looks as though he wants to shake his head to clear away his daze.

"What's the answer to question seven?" He lifts the textbook that is open on everybody's desk, including mine.

"World War One was fought from nineteen fourteen, to nineteen eighteen. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria were the Central Powers, and were later defeated by Britian and it's dominions, France, Russia, and others, who were later joined by Italy and the US." I drone, modeling a perfect student.

"Very good." West nodded, and then began writing on the board. "World War One-"

The bell for the next class rang, cutting him off.

"We'll cover the rest tomorrow. Bring your textbooks please!" The sub calls to us as we stampede out the door. I take my time packing my things and meander out the door and down the hall to the art room.

Several of the younger kids skirt me as I narrow my eyes. I have little tolerance for the younger ones who think they own the place.

As I step into the art room, the familiar smell of paint and cleaning detergent seeps into my being and I sigh in relief.

My fingers twitch and before I can help it, I have a sketch pad out and my fingers are guiding a pencil along. The things I draw are mostly shapes, and have no real meaning to anyone but me.

The next bell rings to signify that the next class has started, and my art teacher starts blabbering. I ignore her until she says something interesting.

"Today, we're starting our final assignment." She waves her colorful fingers around and smiles. "I want you to draw something completely opposite you're used to. I'll pair you with another person doing the opposite, so you can look through each other's sketchbooks."

I continue sketching until a chair is pulled out beside me, and raise my eyes.

"Hi." The boy obviously doesn't look happy to be here, with me. I scowl, and then return to the nearly completed sketch.

"I'm supposed to draw an entire picture with just shapes. Sarah said you were the best with shapes." The art teacher insists we call her by her first name, claiming that calling her by her last name makes her feel old.

I finish a line and then look up, closing the book at the same time.

"What do you usually draw?" I ask, looking somewhat bored.

"People." He answers, sliding his black bound book to me. I slide my own sketchbook over to him.

As they switch places, I compare them. His book is perfect, no bends, no dirt, no loose-leaf paper shoved in.

When I open the perfect black sketch book, Im horrified at what I have to attempt to draw. Perfectly, accurate, normal, people.

Oh, I can draw people, but the normal part is where my issues lie.

"These are amazing." The boy looks up. "What's your name?"

"Samantha Carter." I answer, continuing to leaf through his pictures, studying evey detail I can.

"I'm Eliot Jones. How long have you lived here?" He extended his hand for me to shake, and I raised an eyebrow at the appendage until he dropped it.

"None of your business." I snorted, staring at a pair of knights.

Eliot deflated.

"There's no point trying with her, Elly." A girl at the next table over gave him a sympathetic smile. "She's been like that since kindergarten."

Eliot nodded, and then gave back my sketchbook. I tossed his back and then pulled out a new sheet of paper.

Eliot did the same. I pushed a ruler into his face.

"What's this for?" He seemed confused, but took it anyway.

I sighed. _'Boys are so stupid._' The thought made me smirk.

"It's takes practice to draw lines as straight as I do." I say, drawing the basic shape of an eye, which is difficult as I haven't done it since fourth grade. "Use the ruler."

"Oh." Eliot nodded, brandishing a pencil. "Eyes are tilted a bit at the ends." He offered in return before lowering his head.

I fix the problem and then continue on.

The pupil doesn't get draw the way it's supposed to. My hand, or brain, takes over and when I finish fifteen minutes before the bell rings, I stare.

The eye is entirely white. In the center of it, shaded in blood red, is a snake eating its own tail. In the middle of the snake, are three triangles stacked so they make a larger triangle.

At the bottom of the paper, above my signature, is the word 'pride'.

Sarah wanders over and peers over my shoulder, then at Eliot's drawing. He's copying one of the simpliar drawings, an eight pointed star with a curl in the middle.

The bell rings and he hands my book back.

I pack slowly, and then shuffle out the door to my waiting bus.

It's usually packed with kids, but right now there's less of them. Summer vacation starts soon, so most of them have started their's early.

Nobody bothers to sit with me, and I dont care.

When my stop nears, I stand and clamber off the moment the door opens. My high converse smack against the pavement as I run towards my grandparent's house.

It's beautiful suburban area, over looking the ocean. Mostly older people live here, but some parents with young kids live on the street because of the small amount of traffic.

There's no car in the driveway, which means both of my grandparents are out. The key in my pocket slides easily into the lock and I make my way to my room.

Tossing my bag onto the bed, I fall heavily into my swiveling chair and sigh deeply.

"Welcome home, Sam." I stare at myself in the mirror opposite me, studying my purple hair, gold eyes and naturally tan complexion.

My lips are painted ruby red, and my eyes are lined with heavy black eyeliner. I'm wearing shorts today, and a black Transformers shirt.

The door slams shut and I pry myself up. My feet find the way to the kitchen.

Standing by the stove, humming to herself, is my grandmother. She turns and smiles sweetly.

"Hello, Sam. How was your day today?" She asks.

"Fine." I shrug, sliding into a kitchen chair.

"Tell me about it." Grandmother suggests, although its more like she demands it.

"West was there again." I start.

"Your History sub?" Grandmother frowns. "I would've thought your new teacher had arrived."

"Apparently not. And we have a new project in art."

"What about Math and Gym?" She looks at me over the shoulder while she pours coffee into a mug for herself.

"Watched movies."

"In gym?" Grandmother frowns. "What's your new art project?"

"I have to draw normal people." I grumble.

Grandmother laughs, and I can't help but join her. That's the kind of laugh she has, contagious. Grandpapa says my laugh is like that, but I don't laugh much.

Grandpapa enters the room, smiling.

"How are my two favorite girls?" He asks, taking a seat across from me.

"Good." I say, as Grandmother hugs him.

"Don't forget that we're having the neighbors over for dinner." He warns as I get up. I sigh, nod, and then head upstairs.

There's nothing wrong with our neighbors. They come over every second Tuesday to play a board game. The lady across the street is nice, but she's old fashioned.

As I breach the top of the stairs, my mouth twists downward into frown.

Jessica, the tawny cat, sits at the top of the stairs. Cats always give a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. She meows and I breeze past to the bathroom.

_'My name is Edward Elric. I am not from this world.'_

As I lay in bed later that night, with the glow of the street lamps and the city illuminating my room, I remember the gifts I got for my fifteenth birthday, from my mother's father.

I don't talk to Granddad and Nana much, they live in England. But for my fifteenth birthday they sent a box in the mail.

Inside the box, nestled among packing peanuts, was a diary and a silver watch. The silver watch had a dragon on it. Beneath the diary and watch, are a pair of white silk gloves and a long red coat.

The coat and gloves are still in the box, at the back of my closet. I read only the first few pages of the leather bound diary before I was distracted, but the lines have always repeated themselves in my head.

_'My name is Edward Elric. I am not from this world. I am an alchemist.'_

The words beckon me, trying to bewitch me into reading more, but as my eyes find the book, they drift closed.

**-:-**

Warm morning sunlight filters through the curtains of my room and splash against my face. The clock beside my bed beeps at me, and I smack it to shut it up.

I lay in bed a few more minutes then climb out and shower. After I'm dressed, today in a pair of ripped black leggings and a purple Batman shirt, I stare at myself in the mirror.

My purple hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and sloping bangs frame my face. I've done my makeup, today I'm wearing grape lipgloss and shiny purple eyeliner.

My gold eyes lower to the heaped container of earrings and piercings. As I put in a pair of silver hoops, I sort through the metal bits with my eyes.

When I'm done putting in earrings, I have a line of silver hoops going up my left ear and my right has a bar going through it and my eyebrow has a double-pointed piercing.

Grandmother pokes her head into the bathroom, and rolls her eyes.

"There's pancakes on the table." She says before leaving. I follow her out and down the stairs, patting Garrett, the Siamese cat, on the head.

**-:-**

"Can I look at your sketchbook again?" Eliot asks while we're in art. I look up, nod, and continue my own drawing.

I'm attempting a person, but he's not turning out the way I want. He's too short, too fat and I keep messing up his mouth.

Eliot peers over my shoulder.

"Hey, that's kinda neat." He grins. "I've never draw a chubby guy before."

I'm so surprised that I lift my head, and the pencil slips, but Eliot is already gone. I sigh, and turn back to the drawing.

From his open laughing mouth, is a huge arched shape, kind of like a tongue. I groan, and I'm about to throw it away when I take a second look.

On the end of his tongue, where I had draw a pattern on his shirt, is the same snake eating its tail design as the day before. I've signed my name too, but haven't titled it yet. I lift a pencil, and with a flourish, words pour from the lead.

'Greed' it reads.

**-:-**

The next day in art I draw a woman made of water, with lazy eyes and a kind face. This one is labeled Sloth, and I can't find a snake mark on her.

Eliot is getting the an idea of what to do for his project, but I have no idea what to do until the day after in History.

**-:-**

"Alright," leans against the teacher's desk. "For your final project, which you'll have from now until June Twentieth to do, I want you to create a family tree, dating back to World War One."

"Do we have to draw the pictures?" One of the boys groans.

"Only if you want to." West nods, and then lifts a stack of paper and starts handing them out.

I'm already sketching a rough outline of my family tree.

**-:-**

"Sam?" Grandpapa sticks his head out from the kitchen. "Your other grandparents phoned earlier today."

"They did?" I'm surprised, Nana and Granddad never phone.

"They want you to come for the summer." Grandmother appears. "I think you should do it. Think of what you can say to your classmates next year. 'I went to England and made out with British boys'!"

That's another thing with Grandmother, she's up-to-date with all the things teenagers do. That's why I have so many piercings and my hair is purple.

Grandpapa shakes his head.

"Think about it. I told them you'd call back next week after school is over."

"Thanks Grandpapa." I smile, heading for my room.

After I hit the start button on my computer, I ruffle through my bag and lift the papers I need from it. When the Internet comes up, I frown.

"Sammy?" Grandmother knocks on the door and then steps in. "I brought cookies. What are you working on?"

"I have to make a family tree for History." I mumble through a mouthful of cookie.

"I think I have something you can use." She disappears for a minute and then comes back in with a box.

"This is our family history." She says, dropping the box with a thunk. "Feel free to dig through it."

**-:-**

I gaze around the airport, searching for my grandparents.

A wiry man with a grey mustache and bowler hat is waving a sign reading De Luan.

I look around again, finally catching sigh of Nana and Granddad.

"Nice to see you again, poppet!" Nana wraps her arms around me.

"Look at you!" Granddad stares. "You're huge!"

I nod, following them out to the car.

Nana and Granddad live in a small house on a large property just outside of London. It's a pretty home, with four bedrooms and two bathrooms.

A large tree stands to the left of the house, and there is a farm next door. Nana is a gardener, and she planted several flower beds.

An orchard sits in the bottom field of their home.

"Right, this is your room." Nana opens the door for me.

My grandmother was a lovely woman back in her day, with long blond hair and blue eyes.

"Thank you, Nana." I drop my bags on the large bed.

"No problem, poppet." She closes the door, and I listen as her foots steps retreat down the stairs.

Turning to my bag, I pull it open and lift out my sketch book and the diary.

The coat and gloves are folded at the bottom of the suitcase.

I flip through the pages.

_'My name is Edward Elric. I am not from this world. I am an alchemist.'_

_'The world I come from is called Amestris. It's a large country, with a powerful government and military. I was part of this military, a Dog under its command.'_

_'Fortunatly, my younger brother Alphonse was not, but he travelled with me all over Amestris as we searched for the Philosopher's Stone.'_

_'It is a real thing, and we needed it to restore Al's body and my leg and arm. How did we lose them you ask? I mentioned before that I am an alchemist, as was my brother.'_

_'When we were young, our mother died. We tried to bring her back to life, but something went wrong. In all worlds, to receive something of equal value must be lost. Al lost his whole body that night, but I managed to seal his soul to some armor.'_

_'You may think I'm crazy, but I beg you, believe me when I say these things are real.'_

I close the book when Nana calls me down for dinner.

Normally, visiting my grandparents would be the last thing I would want to do for my summer, but this diary belonging to my great-great-grandfather intrigues me.

"Granddad, do you remember your great-grandfather?" I ask in the middle of supper.

"Crazy great-grandpa Edward." He snorts. "That man was off his rocker, telling me stories a weird land through a gate."

"Did you ever believe him?" I ask, interested.

"No. I don't believe it in the slightest. I bet his arm and leg got blown off in the first World War, not him trying to bring back his mother. And there's no such thing as a soul."

"Why the sudden interest in him, poppet?" Nana raises her blue eyes.

"I did a family tree, and realized I didn't know much about him."

"He married your great-great-granny Winfrey, and they had your great-granddad Meas. Meas was fourteen when they had their first daughter, a girl named Alissia." Nana begins setting down her fork.

"Meas married at twenty after he went to school, to your great-grandmother Melissa-Jane. Alissia died when she was eighteen."

"Meas's first child was a boy called Zachary, but he was born too soon and died. Your granddad was born five years from then."

"I married your Nana when I was twenty-seven, and we had your father, Zachary, two years after. You were born in late August, five years after Charley married your father."

"Thank you." I smile, clearing the plates and then returning to my room.


End file.
